Continuing from yesterday’s post and for my series about “Online Marketing Power Tools,” specifically Social Networking, let’s chat about harnessing the power of Twitter.
Achieving success with Twitter is like getting ready to take a trip. You need to decide where you’re going and how you’re going to get there – before you leave. Likewise, with Twitter, you need to sit down and decide what your goals are and how you’re going to achieve them – before you start the journey. Some goals that you may want to achieve include:
- Connecting with your customers
- Networking with people in your industry
- Driving traffic to your website
Let’s discuss those three goals:
- Connecting with Customers
Before you started your business, you should have done a ton of market research. At this point, you should know who your target market is, what their needs are related to what you offer and how you can meet those needs.
For example, if you are a baby sling seller, your research may indicate that really short, petite women need a sling that will fit them without hurting their backs. So your business has created a solution to this problem.
When you’re on Twitter, you want to find those women who are having issues with slings that don’t fit right because of their size. Once you find them, you’ll want to offer advice that might help with their existing slings, or suggest tips for making sure they buy the right size in the future. Notice, I didn’t say “send them a link to your website.”
Twitter is not the place for a hard sell. Once your potential customer sees that you care about her problem, she’s going to want to know who you are and what you can do for her. She will visit your Twitter page and check out your bio… and click on the link to your site!
- Networking with Industry Leaders
Twitter is a unique place where you can follow, and be followed by, people who are leaders in your industry around the globe. You can keep up with what they’re tweeting about and interact with them. For example, if you’re a virtual assistant, and you see a colleague has won an award, you can publicly congratulate her by using @herTwitterName in your tweet. She’ll see this – and you.
You can also offer advice to your colleagues, share information and discuss issues in your industry. By doing so, you will be seen as someone who is an expert in your field. In some cases, this has lead potential clients to hire you over others without the social proof, or may lead to your colleagues outsourcing work to you. In some situations, this could lead to you getting hired as a subcontractor for a project, because of your Twitter connection.
- Driving Traffic to Your Website
Warning! This should never be your primary goal on Twitter. Tweeting nothing but links to your website, or simply way too many tweets will make you look like a spammer.
So, put this goal in the backseat and focus your efforts on your first two goals. Once you’ve taken care of those two goals and are consistently providing value to your customers and colleagues, the traffic will take care of itself.
Once you have your roadmap and you know where you’re going, getting there will be much easier, cost effective and measurable.
Feel free to add your own tips to this post by commenting below. Are there specific ways you’ve found that contribute to your success on Twitter? Do you agree or disagree with anything written here? Feel free to take part in this conversation below.
Related posts:
[...] Set Goals for Your Twitter Journey (Part Two) [...]